Happy Friday!

I loved watching the boys today just play with their kitchen using their microwave to heat up food - I had a longer time at home this morning because I had a doctor's appt and wasn't going into work until afterwards. They're so happy to play pretend. And last night - wow - it's become "All Star Wrestling" at our house. Suddenly they've discovered the joy of tackling each other and chasing each other from room to room - all while laughing deliriously. I had fun just listening to them (J and his friend were with them in the living room while I was cleaning up the kitchen). I so so so hope that G & W will be good friends. Watching them play & tease each other physically all in good fun feels like the start of that. We can hope!

we just hung out last night

It's funny - sometimes I think the only/biggest reason that the boys are excited to see me come home from work is that they're expecting that I'll take them "bye bye".  I'm sure I'm just being silly, but it's still a thought I deal with. Anyway, we didn't go anywhere last night. I came home from work and actually, no one was home! Grandma & grandpa had taken them in their little cars over to the neighbor, Willard, for a visit and weren't home yet. So, that was an odd unexpected 20 minutes to myself. Then Grandpa & G came home and G was very unhappy - it was clear he hadn't wanted to leave - either because he didn't want to be without W (Grandpa's theory) or because he didn't want to miss out on any fun. So, I took G back over there and we visited a little while. But that was the extent of our "bye bye" time last night. We worked on puzzles and we read books and we had dinner and we had BATH time.  G loves "swimming like a fish" on his tummy, but he loves it BEST when he's in there with W and has his feet in W's direction and kicks him.  Not cool with W, so we have lots of re-directing.

This morning when I was getting ready for work in the bathroom, I let them use brushes to brush their hair in there with me and let them brush their teeth too. They loved it and didn't mind a delayed breakfast (J had to run a last minute errand for my coffee creamer so it was just the 3 of us).

one month left

Only one month left before we have two 2 year olds on our hands!  I'm really enjoying them so much at this age and while I know there are going to be wonderful things about every age, I'm going to miss our 1 year olds. The one thing I'm looking forward to changing in the next year is their ability to tell us what they want. They've been saying more words lately, but they still often just point at something and do a whining sort of sound. When they're actually able to "use their words" so that I can realistically tell them to do that instead of whining - that will be really nice. 

We did take them out in their cars to walk along the river, feed the ducks, and play at the park yesterday after work. They loved it. G wanted to go really fast in his car, loving it when I'd push him ahead of me and then run to catch up. W didn't really want J to do that for him - I guess he doesn't have the same "need for speed". 

Living on the Edge

We broke the rules last night. We fed the ducks.  I was nervous about getting caught and didn't like that we were doing something "wrong", but the ducks LOVED the bread and the boys LOVED watching the ducks swarm over to us to eat the bread. So, I guess I have some moral gray.

It was fun for J and I to take them to the river and push them along the path in their little plastic toy cars with the pushing bars.  They has so much more visibility and freedom in those than in their double stroller. Plus, that thing is really heavy & only one of us can push both boys. Their cars are fairly light weight, they have a front "hoods" for storage of fishie crackers and sippy cups, and we can share the load of pushing them. We're going to do this again tonight - we're supposed to have mild fall weather again and J will try to get home from work earlier than last night so that we have time to let them spend time on the playground in addition to being pushed along the river.

G's first two-word sentence!

Two posts in one day, following a nearly three week absence...but this one definitely deserves a writeup:

G said his first two-word sentence yesterday, just before he turns 23 months tomorrow.  I wasn't there for it, but Grandpa called to tell me that yesterday while I was away studying, he woke up from his nap and asked, "Mama home?"

I'm so excited & proud!

the longer I wait to post, the more I avoid writing ANYTHING!

It's been almost 3 weeks since I last wrote and that's just unacceptable!  I did start up my Master of Public Health class during this time and it's been a little challenging - but still...the boys are growing and changing and doing so many amazing & adorable things that I don't want to keep procrastinating.  So here are a few tidbits to get the ball rolling again. I'm planning to write every day for the rest of this month, even if all the post consists of is one sentence. Knowing myself though, once I get writing, the words will flow.

Grandma & I took them to the park one evening last week and spotted a big Little Tykes play kitchen sitting out on the curb. This phenomenon of just leaving stuff for free on the curb for anyone to pick up is new to me since moving from Minnesota. I can't tell yet if it's a local or a state thing, but it's actually really nice. Especially in this case, because I'd been thinking in the back of my mind that the boys would LOVE a play kitchen, especially when winter weather arrives and we need to find a way to entertain them inside.  So this was a BIG score. It's in great condition and has: a sink/faucet, microwave, dishwasher, oven, stove, cupboard, and a little attached side table.  And the boys adore it!  They love to pretend play that they're cooking or washing their hands or putting things away in the cupboard.  So much fun to watch them with that. Of course W's bowl obsession works well with this - he can stack bowls there to his heart's content.

Speaking of bowls, W finally had to let go of his favorite orange bowl that he took everywhere with him. After it broke into pieces on the bathroom tile floor, J used superglue to piece it back together and sanded the rough edges (what a great Daddy!) and it seemed that it would be saved. Alas, it was dropped again and the superglue didn't hold. So we had to say goodbye to the bowl. And W was devastated - it did take a full 3 days of him saying "BOOOOWL" with his lips puckered and sounding like a dog howling (that's the best way I can describe his anguished call for his bowl).  Finally he slowly forgot about it and he's OK now.

We were at the park again yesterday evening and the boys were loving the swings - which is such a change from before!  So I decided to try an "underdog", but not that high - more of a "side dog", I guess - getting them up in the air higher than I've done before and they LOVED it. They laughed and asked for "more"!  Lots of fun.

They also love to run, run, run. It's so cute to watch them run in the park. Their little run is so cute.

Diaper rashes have been BAD - but I think that's because both boys are passionate about the cherry tomatoes we have growing in our garden. They love to pick them and love to eat them. "more! more! more!".  Well, we obviously have to refrain from feeding them tomatoes, because I think the acid is causing the burning bottoms. Not fun.

Lots more I could write, but will wait for tomorrow.

don't want to miss a thing

So many new things happen with these boys seemingly daily.  Yet I struggle to take the time just to even jot down bullet points. I'm not going to get complacent!

Yesterday G was showing more playfulness than usual. W was wearing his orange bowl on his head and G kept trying to push it off, take it, and laugh. W wasn't really feeling the humor of the situation though!

Also, while G has for a long while been saying "Bye bye" (often with a hand gesture right in my face to make sure that I understand he wants to get out of the house), W hasn't yet said anything like this.  Well, out of the blue yesterday evening, he was driving their doll stroller down the hallway and called out to me, "Bye!".  He's got such a cute little voice.

I was playing with the boys outside on Monday evening and they wanted to use their play lawnmower. Well, they both "started it up" by flinging their arm away from the lawnmower, just like daddy does (we've got a push-mower that starts up this way).  It's really a big reminder that they are watching everything we do. Big responsibility to be good examples for them!

I was so angry with Grandpa last night, because J shared with me that Grandpa had been giving potato chips (with dip!) to G.  This is after I've told him not to and explained exactly why (we have obesity running in both families and potato chips provide zero nutritional value and are loaded with fat and salt). He'd previously agreed not to - so finding out that he's still doing it made me livid.  So we talked again last night about this and he agreed (again) not to give it to him. Part of the problem is that Grandpa himself loves potato chips and apparently struggles not to eat them in front of the boys - and then the boys beg for some. Grandma's solution was "maybe go into another room to eat chips".  It's not my place to tell him what to eat/not to eat, but my solution would be just don't buy chips in the first place - or keep them at your house so that you're not tempted to eat them at ours.  Augh.

Julie's purchased flash cards to use with the boys during their mornings together - I'm so happy with her drive to be productive with them and it's great that they enjoy being with her. Even though they were doing great with J in the mornings, I think we're all better off with Julie caring for them during that time instead.

Tidbits

W absolutely insists on having the orange cup, the orange bowl, the orange fork, and the orange baseball bat. It's really pretty funny.

We continue with duct-taping their diapers at night and bedtime, because they keep trying to take them off before they go to sleep. I really don't like doing that, though, because they sometimes end up with bits of adhesive on their hips. I take it off with baby oil, but I still don't like it.

I've never mastered rinsing their shampooed hair during bathtime without getting water in their eyes and so I asked J to install a hand held sprayer attachment. I used it for the first time last night. I gave the boys a bath one at a time instead of our typical "both boys at once". G was wary of the sprayer at first, but after I let him touch it, hold it, and have it spray on his hand and his tummy, he was OK with using it on his head. And it worked great - no water in his eyes at all. W, on the other hand, wasn't as accepting of this new addition to bathtime and still struggled with getting his hair rinsed, even though the sprayer wasn't getting water in his eyes. Hopefully that will go away in time.

Still struggling against Grandpa wanting to give the boys (especially G) food when they're upset/crying and this is usually crackers & cheese spread or even on Sunday afternoon, he asked if he could give them ranch chip dip. I couldn't believe he'd even think that was an option. One of my biggest priorities is preventing eating/food/obesity issues for these boys. I don't want to go overboard and cause eating disorders/obsessions, but I really don't want them to struggle with being overweight or using food to manage their emotions. Childhood obesity is such a big problem and I'm always trying to learn everything I can about the best way to prevent it. Everything seems to say that it's at age 2 where you need to start being concerned about it and so if G's BMI at the 24 month well visit with the doctor is overweight/obese, I'm going to seek an appointment/advice from a dietician.

Happy Friday

J gets to stay home with the boys this morning, because Julie's worn out and tired - staying home. I don't think any 3 of my boys are complaining about that = lots of fun bonding time.

W has joined G on the loving-to-read-books train. They both were asking for laptime with their favorite books from Grandpa, Julie, and J yesterday. I didn't join in, because when I got home from work yesterday G was demanding to go, "Bye bye!". Meaning, he makes sure he gets my attention, looking right at me, and waving his little hand at me along with saying, "Bye BYE!". And I can't say no. So, after the boys ate a quick dinner, J and I took them to another park further from our house. They love this park. It has a lot more activity with lots and lots of little kids and their parents. They both enjoyed the swings and then W got hooked on climbing the big-kids-ladder and going down the big-kids-slide, over and over and over again, literally running from the bottom of the slide over to the ladder. I love his little run - he's got his whole body into it!  And G saw some older boys kicking a soccer ball around - and he walked right up to them, not really intimidated at all. They were nice enough to stop and kick it over to him and at first he tried to pick it up and take it away for himself, but I redirected him and he kicked it back to them. It was so cute.

I don't know what we're going to do this winter, when it's too cold to go outside - the boys LOVE running around and playing outdoors!

these days keep flying by

Oh, how I love these two little boys. Sometimes I think we should have another, because the days are flying by too quickly and they're going to be two soon and I won't have babies anymore. J and I talk all the time about how much we're going to miss these days and how sad we'll be when they leave the house in 17, 18 years. Anyway, some bullet points of recent moments I want to remember:

• W woke up too early this morning (6:40) because his brother was awake and ready to loudly start the day. So after I got G out of his jammies & sent him to see daddy for breakfast, I got W out of his crib and asked if he wanted to snuggle. He nodded yes, so I got his blankie, wrapped him up, and snuggled him in the rocking chair in their room. He leaned into me and seemed so snuggly satisfied. I kissed him and told him how much I love him and just spent a few minutes memorizing his face. It was really only a 5 minute event, but I think it was really important. I don't spend enough one-on-one time with them and need to figure out a way to make that happen. (this bullet point turned into a paragraph!).
• Julie texted me yesterday morning that she asked G if he loves his mommy and he said,"Yes", even though "No" is the much more common response to basically everything lately!
• W has the cutest little run I've ever seen - I saw it in action last night when Grandpa & I took them to the indoor playland.
• Also at playland last night: G was so excited about the bubble machine and kept saying, "Bubbles! Bubbles!", running around with his arms up & out.  So cute!
• W has a big ORANGE fetish - he was very upset when G was dressed in "his" orange shirt a few days ago, to the point where I took it off G and gave it to W. He also wants the orange sippy cup and the orange bowl. He wanted the orange toy in the "soybean sand box" at the playland. Interesting...
• G is in love with reading books lately. Grandpa says that they read 20 books in an afternoon and I believe it! On top of whatever they read together, he spends a lot of time bringing me books to read and sitting himself into my lap on the floor. He loves Goodnight Moon, Little Blue Truck, and My Mommy Loves Me.  
• W likes to run up to me and give my leg a big bear hug.
• They're both loving playdoh - they spent an hour with it yesterday with Daddy & Grandpa - which is amazing considering their very short attention span.

where are the words?

Yes, boys typically start talking later than girls.

And yes, twins often start talking later than singletons.

These facts dampen my worries that these 21 month olds aren't talking much yet. But this knowledge fails to lessen my extremely strong desire to communicate with them using words. I mean, obviously I talk with them (all the time, in hopes that this will help) - but I hear very little response through words.  They understand exactly what I'm saying and they easily follow 2-part directions. There's no problem with their comprehension.  But they don't use words to tell me what's going on inside those cute little heads. And I'm dying to know.  I yearn for that kind of relationship and it feels like I've been waiting forever. "Luv you, momma" is something I know will melt my heart and I just wish it would happen sooner than later. Instead, J and I express glee about the one word they both have started saying - "No".  Actually, it's really funny - G was very tired last evening, because he refused to take a nap after playtime at the park and he was kind of whiny. I told him, "I understand, you're tired", and he responded NOOOOO.  It's like, he understood not only what I was saying, but what I was implying (it would be bedtime soon).  Just these little glimpses of what 2-way communication can be like with them just whets my appetite and leaves me wanting more.

They're certainly working on their large motor & fine motor skills in lieu of the verbal skills, though!  They both can thread Cheerios onto dry spaghetti noodles stuck in play-doh. W can climb up the "big kids" playground equipment at the park and hang from a bar.  Both boys can throw the ball overhand, they're both running, and G is jumping.  W is trying to figure out how to throw things straight up into the air, since watching me demonstrate. It's fascinating to watch them learn new things and it's so fun to see how proud of themselves they are. So, I try to take great joy with their accomplishments rather than focusing on what we don't have (yet).

these fast-moving days

Went to the park near our house yesterday with Jan & the boys. As usual, they both took their shoes & socks off during the short drive to the park. I'm really looking forward to having that phase be a part of the past!

Keeping in mind what I've read about the possible routes of obesity inheritance, I decided to challenge G to run the bases with me. And he did!  We had lots of fun running (really, me jogging slowly, but he was doing his little run behind me) from base to base, jumping on each base when we got to it.  He laughed and had fun - and I kept hoping that maybe this kind of thing will activate a love of being active rather than sedentary.

A man with a remote-controlled airplane came to the park and the boys were enthralled, watching the plane swoop around through the air and down to land near his feet.

We also watched a couple playing tennis and they threw a couple of tennis balls over the fence to us so the boys could play with them. And wow, does W have an arm!  He's able to do overhand throwing of a tennis ball with seemingly very little effort.

Then after we came home & had dinner, I decided to test their ability/desire to "pretend play". I asked them if they wanted to "feed their baby". And they did!  We have a baby doll inherited from my sister and I got out 2 of their spoons and bowls - and both of them had lots of fun feeding the baby. And it was so cute!

They're both great with puzzles already, but G especially so. W gets frustrated when the piece needs to be "twisted/turned around" to fit and he gives up pretty quickly. G seems to have a natural talent with getting the pieces in correctly.

I'm so proud of these boys!

Diapers - time to potty train 21 month old boys?

The diaper saga continues...because I've noticed some adhesive lingering on their hip line from the duct tape. So, last night I thought I'd try to go without to see what happens.  Sure enough, they were both diaper-free this morning and had wet all over their cribs. sigh....what to do?  I have a small suspicion that this is a sign (along with others, like signalling to us when they're pooping during the day and interest in our "pottying") that they are ready to be potty trained.  Very young, especially for boys, but maybe we'll need to give it a try. I want to try the 3-day technique, but I'm concerned that it will be longer than 3 days with twins. I don't want to take a whole week of vacation, but maybe I could plan a 4 day weekend of "fun" times.  I just want to make sure that they're really ready for this. Maybe they just think taking their diapers off at night is a fun game, like their "take shoes & socks off during car rides" game.

Diapers & Duct Tape

G has apparently decided that he does not like to wear diapers in the crib. One afternoon last week he took off his diaper during nap time & got poop all over everything in the crib. Then he did it again on Saturday and again yesterday. We used duct tape after yesterday's incident and that worked to keep his diaper on. But I didn't use it at nighttime and when I checked on them before I went to sleep last night, lo & behold, he was diaperless again. So, I put a new diaper on while he slept and didn't think that using duct tape was necessary at that point. But I was wrong! This morning they slept in late and weren't awake before I left for work. But I peeked in on them before I left - and G was sleeping with his bottom in the air, no diaper once again. Amazing. I wonder what it means. He doesn't like the feeling of a diaper? Likes being naked? Thinks our reaction is somehow amusing? And least likely - could he be ready to start potty training? They turn only 21 months this week.

If anyone reading this has any advice at all, please leave a comment because I have no idea what we should do at this point!

Every morning...what a blessing

When even a "really amazing thing" is a daily occurrence, it becomes part of our routine and we risk missing out on the wonderment and enjoyment of that thing.

My "really amazing thing": Getting to enter the boys' room every morning to two little faces that can't wait to see me. Whether they're happy or cranky, W & G are there waiting for me and want me to pick them up. I feel so loved. It's such a privilege to be the one they need, the one who changes their diapers and brings them in for breakfast in their jammies.

Today, I'm thinking about how it won't always be this way. Someday, of course, they'll be adults and living somewhere else. But even much sooner than that, they'll be too big for cribs and will likely walk right out their door when they wake up, in search of me or their dad. Hopefully I'll love that routine just as much. I think I'll miss these days when they're gone, though.

The push and pull of raising little ones...the whole point of parenting is to raise them into adults who will eventually not need you anymore. But I enjoy being the one to meet their needs. As much as I will enjoy their milestones of more and more independence throughout their childhood and will be proud of their steps along the way to adulthood, I'm really truly going to miss the "20 month old" time. These are sweet, sweet days.

Grandma & I took them to the park yesterday after work. It's been such strange weather for mid-July in the Midwest, with a high of 75 degrees and low humidity!  We took their sand toys along and throughout the evening they ran along the park's paths, jumped on the bases in the baseball diamond, climbed the playground equipment, went down the slides, and interacted with new little kids.  Because Grandma was there, we could switch off following one or the other of the boys and we all had a great time. It's funny - they really don't have much of a need to be near one another when we're in public and I think that's really healthy. At least I hope so. I want them to be close friends, but I also really want them to not be "needy/clingy" with each other as twins. It's good for them to have different interests and enjoy other kids.

Sharing and kindness

Most of the time, W & G are competitive with each other and like to take the toy they want, even if their brother happens to be playing with the toy at the time. So it was such a welcome warm & happy event last night during bathtime when W had been playing with his "3 little fishies" during most of the bath and at one point lost one of them to G's side of the tub. And without any discernible request from W, G reached for the it and gave it to W. Amazing. Kindness!  G got a high-five and lots of praise. We're hoping that positive reinforcement will help kindness to grow between them.

over 3 months have passed - how did that happen?

I want to get back to writing regularly. I need to keep a better record of the boys' "firsts" than just hopefully-later-organized/collated information from emails and facebook updates. So, I'll be regularly writing here again.

Just random thoughts to quickly start off:

Yesterday I came home from work and the boys were having snack time in their high chairs and the moment I walked into the kitchen, W was practically jumping out of his chair with his arms open wide and a huge smile on his face - he couldn't wait to give me a hug. It was such an awesome moment.

A not-so-awesome moment was realizing that I absolutely could. not. find. their shoes. Despite the fact that we now have a backup pair, so we should actually have 3 pairs of size 6 shoes floating around the house. So, because I was determined to take them to the "indoor backyard" to run around freely with other kids, and obviously they have to have shoes, I quickly drove to Target to get yet another pair. Grandma & I then took them to go have lots of fun. And it was - G loved climbing up, around, and sliding down the big "climber thing" (what do I call this?) and W spent most of the time focusing on the bean/pea-filled "sandbox", filling up his buckets and pouring from his scoops. I met another mom who had a little boy just a couple months older who was also playing in the room with W. It was nice to chat. I love seeing the boys get to run around and experience life with other little kids. Even when those interactions stress them out - W is very possessive of the things he's playing with (understandably so!) and so when the other little boy took his bucket he was very upset. G is extremely laid back and in most cases will surrender his toy to his brother or to whomever else wants it. I'm pretty sure his behavior is in the minority for 20 month olds. Not that I mind!

This evening I'm planning to try out one of the little activities I found on a website http://theimaginationtree.com/2012/06/benefits-of-playing-with-play-dough.html

I'm going to stick dry spaghetti noodles in the play dough we made this week and give them Cheerios to thread through them. Hopefully they'll have fun and won't be frustrated!

boys will be boys

While I'm sure that toddler girls are just as capable as boys when it comes to injuring themselves - WOW, do these boys know how to get into precarious situations. Which result in injuries that make their mother cringe. Yesterday it was all about W and his climbing escapades in (the safety of?) our living room. All of this happened while I was at work and Jerry was home with them. The first fall happened while he was there watching them. I had mistakenly thought they were ready to safely enjoy the little 6-8 inch high stools they'd been given as gifts when they were born (puzzle-piece'd letters of their names on the tops).  I brought them out of their closet the evening before in an attempt to give them something "new" to capture their attention for more than 5 minutes. Well, yesterday morning, W was standing on this stool and fell off, somehow scraping the side of his head on the edge of it, resulting in a big scrape at his temple. Jerry confiscated the stools and put them back in storage. Then yesterday afternoon, he was changing G's diaper in their bedroom and W was playing alone in the living room. When suddenly he apparently had pulled his little toy piano next to the couch, climbed up on top of it and tried to fling himself onto the couch, but slipped and ended up with a huge bruise underneath his eye on the same side as the temple scrape.  Jerry called me at work, to warn me that W wasn't going to look very good when I got home. He was right. W looks like a boxer who's been through a round or two.

At least we haven't had any biting episodes since we've committed to always being present with them when the boys are together, scolding any attempts made toward open mouthed aggression.  A good thing, since they've been invited to their first play date this Sunday morning with the 2 year old son of one of the physicians I support. Should be interesting. At least the weather is (finally) supposed to be spring-like and we can hopefully spend the time outside.

Losing fingernails?

The moral of this short story is that I need to give Jerry more credit than I do. I'm ashamed to admit that I find myself generally assuming that I know more than he does when it comes to parenting. Well, we noticed this weekend that 2 of little G's fingernails look like they're coming off.  In my experience, this only happens when there's a severe injury to the nail bed, like fingers are smashed by a heavy object or slammed in a car door - basically, a severe accident must have happened.  But - I did think it was really odd that there was no bruising and we hadn't noticed him being upset about his fingers.  Jerry said he think it's probably because of the hand-foot-mouth disease they had over a month ago.  Honestly, I thought this was ridiculous and that he probably didn't want to admit that we'd somehow missed a severe injury.  But, I was curious enough to Google it and lo & behold, this is a thing.  According to Wikipedia, fingernail loss can happen in some kids who get HFMD, about 4-8 weeks after they're sick.  I'm guessing there were blisters in/around the nail bed of those 2 fingers and they disrupted the nail growth.  And now, the nails are about to fall off.  Amazing.

the biting/the hitting

Augh. I can't believe that I didn't think of this before, but I finally checked the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) site for professional/scientific advice about toddler aggression.

And it turns out that while independent play is a good thing, toddlers who are with their playmates should not be left unsupervised.  Meaning, we should not be leaving W & G alone to play together while we're in the kitchen or doing laundry or whatever else.  Especially since they've both been aggressive with each other.  I can't believe I didn't think of that.

So the new thing as of this morning is that if they're awake together, there must be an adult actively supervising at all times.  This means that if Grandma is working in the kitchen, the boys need to either be in their highchairs watching her or we need to babyproof the kitchen so that one or both can play in there.  Or - we need to completely babyproof a second room so that they can have truly independent play, safe from each other's aggression.  Changes on the horizon...

have to keep up!

So I know I'm busier than usual, with this grad school class on top of normal work & parenting.  And so I do give myself a break on not updating this blog as often as I'd like.  But.   I want the boys (and Jerry & me!) to someday have a good source to read about all the milestones and remember stories of their childhood.  So - must keep up!

They absolutely love the indoor playground we've taken them to twice now.  Yesterday we went there after I got home from work and G actually went down the enclosed slide!  I was up at the top with him and he could hear his Daddy down below and he went for it.

What I will likely remember most from last night:

• W wanting to be held & walked around and the way he held tightly to my shirt at the shoulder/neck.  I love being a source of comfort - a good part of being Mommy.  
• G getting bear-hugged out of nowhere by a little boy who told me later that he's 4.  Which I kinda doubt - he wasn't much taller than G.  And G took the hug in stride, just looking at this little boy in wonder.  
• Out of all the many many toys and activities available, G spent 20 minutes focused on a push broom that someone had left out against the wall.  He was determined to play with it and I was determined to not let him.  I won (lol), but he proceeded to have a little tantrum on the floor.  It must be really hard to have big emotions, but no words to communicate about it.
• Jerry having about enough of the loud noise & chaos toward the end.  It really can be a lot.  But, that's parenting!  

the boys

W loves cords.  He is absolutely enamored with them.  Anytime he can find a new one to play with, he does a little "chitter" with excitement.  And then promptly locates the end that is attached to some object and tries to either detach it or drag it along behind him.  And of course is frustrated when that something is too big to drag behind him.  Example: this morning they were up much earlier than usual and so breakfast was finished earlier too - and W wanted to be with me.  I took him to the office where I was working on the computer.  Lo and behold, he was able to flip the paper shredder over and proceeded to try dragging it around by its cord.  He didn't get very far in this endeavor and needless to say was extremely upset when I took it away from him.

For the first time last night, we witnessed both G & W riding their "vehicles" forward instead of backwards and/or instead of essentially walking with the vehicles under/between their legs.  Last night W was driving the rocketship and G was driving the tractor.  Lots of fun in the living room, driving between me & Jerry on opposite sides of the room.

We also took a family trip to Walmart yesterday.  The boys did pretty well, each in a separate cart.  I was with G, since W is typically so attached to me and I want to make sure G doesn't feel left out.  We had to stop by the tricycle department to give the boys a spin on those.  Their legs aren't quite long enough and I'm sure it'll be awhile before they can figure out the pedalling motion anyway.  But it was fun to see the boys sitting on trikes and imagine the future.  

a really good weekend

I didn't have a panic attack about my class this weekend!  The assignment wasn't as difficult as previous weeks and/or I'm getting used to the rhythm of the class.

I went out for dinner Saturday night with Kris, while Jeff and their kids spent time at our house with our boys and kept Jerry company as he finished cutting/laying tiles in the kitchen.

Yesterday I was able to go grocery shopping/errand running while all 3 boys slept.  :-)  Then came home to cook 3 things for the coming week: tuna hotdish, roasted rosemary/lemon chicken (Thanks, Pioneer Woman!), and slow cooker pork loin

Later on, Jerry and I worked on grouting the tile floor together.  I'd been waiting for that day for a loooong time - and it was finally here!  I love how it looks and it's just so much easier to deal with a finished kitchen floor.  Fun waking up to it this morning.

Meanwhile, I most importantly had a lot of good quality time with the boys interspersed with all of the above.  They've become very generous with hugs and kisses.  I'm loving the huge "arms around my neck, face buried into my shoulder/chest" hugs they're giving me lately.  The 18 month well child visit (in only 2 months - time is flying WAY TOO FAST) will ask whether they can stack blocks.  And since we didn't have blocks, I got some.  And they're loving them.  I also got another book for them - about the monkeys jumping on the bed, because I love that little song.  They're so curious about everything.  I got video last night of them inspecting every angle of the vacuum cleaner and figuring out the length of the cord (W!).  I love these little guys so much.

weekend update

We ended up having a really great weekend, though there were times in the midst of it when I felt the opposite.  Jerry was grumpy on Saturday night and that led to my feeling annoyed on top of the stress/anxiety I was feeling after spending most of the day researching/writing for my class.  But the rest of the weekend more than made up for that:

Fish Fry on Friday night - G is SOOOO his father's son, very friendly & flirty with all of the strangers within his scope of vision.  He even stretched his body out around to catch glimpses of extra people he could smile at.  It felt like he singlehandedly entertained the whole place!  The servers know us well by now and this week our server brought oyster crackers in little plastic cups to help keep the boys entertained.  It was just a really fun time, especially after having been sick last week.

Saturday morning we got to go over to Ethan's house to visit.  The boys played very well and for the most part stayed out of trouble and were happy to explore "safe" things.

Sunday morning I was up early @ 5:30, so I decided to just get up and do more research/writing.  Then after the boys woke up and we all had breakfast together and I folded some laundry, I went to go study @ Target's Starbucks and then @ Barnes and Noble once they opened.  And something clicked - I finally found my groove and wrote up my answer to our discussion question and posted it.  And an immediate weight was lifted.  Called up Jerry and came home to spend time together.  He told me the boys had fallen asleep together on the living room floor while playing - a first for them!  He even took video to capture the moment.  When I got home, they were awake so we played and did more laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, convinced Jerry it was time to let me cut his hair, organized the boys' room and organized the office.  Amazing what the release of stress can do for my motivation!!!

The four of us plus Grandma & Grandpa went to visit a family friend at hospice later on, thinking the boys are at a good age to give her encouragement.  It ended up going fine, despite my hesitation.  In fact, the boys had an awesome time exploring/running in the hallway after our visit.  They're not used to having such a large area to run around in.  There was precious laughing/giggling/chasing with each other going on.  Priceless.

To top it off, Jerry and I got to go on a little date, using a gift card to have dinner @ Buffalo Wild Wings and then shopping @ Walmart.  Whoo hoo!

angst

Angst...and anxiety!  I could probably blather on and on and ON and on about my struggles with anxiety.  But that would probably be boring and unproductive. It's been really difficult for me to get used to having "school" in my life.  I wanted to be challenged to think critically, since I do very little of that in my daily work life.  I wanted to have a goal that led to a more interesting, impactful, and valuable job.  BUT....but.....this is so hard.  I'm determined to at least make it through this class and do as well as I possibly can, but I just don't know that this is the kind of life I want to lead for the next 5 years.  I have to do some more thinking about the pros/cons, risks/benefits.  I don't want to look back on these boys' first years and wish that I'd had more time to spend with them and that the time that I actually DID spend with them didn't hold a background of angst about studying & writing papers, etc.  However, I know that this is my best and probably only real opportunity to pursue a master's degree and the better job and more money that goes along with it.  If I don't see it through, will I look back with regret, wondering why I didn't persevere and wishing that I had?

It's not like this is a HORRIBLE experience.  It's just that it's really difficult and it's made that much more difficult by my anxiety.  Must calm my mind and change the way I talk to myself.  ...sigh....

For context, G did come down with hand foot mouth disease this week and he seems to have a fairly bad case of it, with awful blisters on his palms & thighs and most likely mouth, based on the way he doesn't want to eat and puts his fingers in his mouth.  Maybe I need to give myself a little perspective and know that every week won't be like this.

hand foot mouth

So our little G suddenly had a fever yesterday morning and throughout the day it got up to 104.2 and he was looking pretty rough by the time I got home, so I took him right to the walk-in clinic in case it was an ear infection.  The diagnosis: hand-foot-mouth disease.  He'd been drooling a lot, but I assumed it was the molars he's teething right now.  Nope - the doctor looked at his palms and found a rash and saw 2 big sores in the upper back part of his throat.  Poor guy.  He was miserable.  Here's where I'm just amazed: even though the doctor warned us that last night was probably going to be miserable, the first time I heard the monitor was at 5 am when G started a little whimper cry.  He must love sleep/be amazingly good at putting himself back to sleep when he wakes.

This morning his fever was down to 99.9 and he seemed to feel better.  We still gave him Tylenol which he suddenly doesn't like (in the past, he's loved it so much that he's wanted to have some when he's seen W get a dose).  I wonder if it's mouth sores causing him to not want it - strange.

Jerry's update call this morning was that G is playing with W and fever at his diaper change was 98.6.  W's actually had the more interesting morning - he fell off his wooden riding horse and bashed the bottom of his chin.  Jerry says there was a lot of blood, which freaked him out, but it turned out to be just superficial and he doesn't even need a band-aid.

Between the two of them, it's a really good thing we did their pictures @ JCPenneys on Tuesday night, because yesterday & today would not have worked out!

another reason parenting is hard...

The emotional attachment to these little creatures who are amazing, incredible, so loving and adoring, all the while knowing that they're growing & changing (so fast!) on the path toward being tweens, adolescents, teenagers, adults. Getting used to (and reveling in!) arriving home after work to little arms raised up, wanting nothing more than my attention, loves, hugs, kisses, dancing in my arms - but knowing that I won't have this at some point in the future.  I guess it just feels so different than any other relationship. For example, it would have been so strange to be falling in love with Jerry and knowing all the while that eventually we would no longer have the same sort of loving interactions.  Of course I hope that the boys will always want affection from their mom in a certain form, but I know these days of innocent, unedited expressions of love are finite. And there's grief in that knowledge.  I'll love the men they'll be some day, but I'm going to miss the toddlers they are today.

(The bottles are "pretty much done" at this point. The last 2 nights they've had a sippy cup with milk before bed instead of a bottle and they've gone to sleep just fine.  Yesterday they had no bottles at all.  This morning, I had time to put change the boys's diapers and get them into their chairs for breakfast before I left for work and G was having a meltdown about not having a bottle - I've yet to hear from Jerry as to whether or not he had to give in & give a bottle).

parenting is hard.

W continues to giggle when we say "no".  It's so frustrating, because I don't know how to teach him that we're the parents, we're in charge, and when we say "no" that means he has to stop doing what he just did and not do it again.  Maybe he's unable to really understand those concepts very well yet, since he's only 15 months old (that's Jerry's opinion).  Of course my anxiety ridden brain jumps to the possibility that W is going to be a rebellious child who has no regard for authority and nothing we can think of to do will change that. I'm really hoping to find other moms who have struggled with this and made it through to the other side.  One of my main goals is to raise two kind & respectful boys.  How to accomplish this?

Then we have G who this morning had a complete meltdown and wouldn't stop freaking out when we tried to sit him in his chair to have breakfast. Yesterday he'd done just fine with the sippy cup instead of his beloved bottle with breakfast and so I had high hopes that this transition away from bottles was going well. Not so much.  He wouldn't settle down until we poured the milk into a bottle and gave that to him instead. Augh. I guess he might be a "strong willed child".

I'm trying not think about the fact that these two scenarios will pale in comparison to the future problems we're certain to encounter, probably sooner than we realize.  Good thing that these sweet boys also provide the biggest joys we've ever experienced. 

Toes

Sweet boys helped celebrate my birthday.  Love those toes!

a big difference between "100 and 5" and "100.5"

Just got a call from Jerry saying that W's temperature is now "100 and 5" after his nap.  I immediately said he should call the nurse line right away.  I asked more questions about how he was acting/feeling and as Jerry was talking, he referred to the fever not being as high as before the nap (which I knew had been 102).  Soooo, we got clarification.  W's fever was down to 100.5.  Much less scary and changed our whole conversation.  One little word.  And who's to know whether Jerry actually said the wrong word or if he said the right one and I miss-heard him because I'm worried about W?  I was just relieved to know we weren't dealing with an emergency type of situation and I felt I could breathe again.

This fever seems to be a strange one.  He'd been acting normally yesterday, with no signs of cold/congestion. Neither boys have been sick with colds or anything else in the last month, so when W was extremely clingy to me when I got home from work and just wanted to be cuddled I knew something was up, but didn't know what it could be.  Jerry thought for sure that it was just W being really attached to me & missing me.  But he's just not a super-cuddly guy.  Even G is more so and he's not even one who will sit in laps for long periods of time.  They're both so interested in being active that cuddling takes a back seat to climbing, walking, hiding, and throwing.  So I gave them dinner last night and W did eat & drink as normal, but afterwards he wouldn't stop crying and I noticed as I held him that he did seem warm.  Sure enough, when I checked his temp it was 102.3.  It just seems so strange, since he's had no recent colds and no other current symptoms.  He got Tylenol at 7 pm and G wanted some too (they both love the flavor of this medicine).  They went down at their regular 8 pm bedtime without a fuss and slept through the night.  I'm hoping that whatever is causing the fever is not some really bad thing and it just goes away as quickly as it came on.

kisses, popcorn buckets, and laughing at "no"

The affection was being handed out like candy this weekend.  And this time it was from boys to parents, boys to grandparents, boys to each other.  Suddenly they want to express their love through touching open mouth to cheek.  It's endearing, funny, adorable.  

Jerry and I got to go on a date yesterday, including a movie with popcorn in a bucket.  We brought said bucket home with us, because it was so huge that we didn't eat all of the popcorn.  W decided it is the best toy ever.  It will probably occupy that status for at least a week.  That is, if G doesn't do an intentional nose-dive onto it, smashing it flat.  These scenarios are equally plausible.  So W likes to wear this bucket on his head and then put it on our heads to see our reactions, "I can't see!!!".  This cracks him up.

Speaking of laughter - apparently we're so unfortunate as to have two toddlers who aren't phased by a stern, serious-sounding "NO".  In fact, rather than be reduced to tears, they laugh.  Yes, they somehow think it's a game.  So we're going to have to figure out whether time-outs can be effective this young (not-quite-15 months).  How do we teach them not to do something and that we're the parents-in-charge, if they laugh at "no"?  Any suggestions are welcomed!

One-on-one

Oh, what little gifts these boys are.  I feel so grateful to have the two of them.  Still, sometimes I really wish they would have arrived "one at a time".  And it's not because of the extra work involved with twins.  I don't have any way of knowing whether the work with two the same age is really that much more than two of different ages.  It's that I'm really a person who bonds well one-one-one.  I can participate in group conversations, but I'm always much more comfortable talking with one person at a time.  And last night I was playing sitting on the floor with W on my lap and G was playing in the same room and I realized once again how much my attention is divided.  I really crave time to just focus on my relationship with one little boy.  I end up being "half-there" with each of them.  In last night's instance, I had W on my lap and he was interested in the water bottle, playing with the attached cap and I wanted to interact with him, but I was aware of G pushing his rocket ship across the floor and wanted to participate in that with him too.  So it didn't feel like I was having a satisfying time with either of them.  I have a constant stream of thoughts in my head that I need to make sure G sees me and I need to give W attention, etc etc etc.

This is what people call a first world problem, I realize.  Or perhaps more specifically, a 21st century first world problem.  I can't imagine that a United States farm wife in the early 1900s had the luxury of worrying that she wasn't able to give enough adequate play time to all 5-10 of her children.  I think she likely had much more pressing concerns.  Sadly, it's likely that today's second & third worlds also require the need to bypass such trivial thoughts.

So, yes, I realize I'm privileged to have the kind of life where these worries even exist.  Still...I'd like to RELAX a bit and enjoy these days more than my worries currently let me.  I think I need to build "Mommy & W", "Mommy & G" outings into our calendar.  Actually I think something simple like taking just G out to Target even without (maybe especially without?) a shopping list would be really satisfying.  Because there's two of them, I've taken them shopping a total of twice.  I'd like to do it more, especially to fit these in before they're talking & demanding the toys and treats they see!

olives & spinach & mushrooms, oh my!

W loves olives.  We found this out last night, as I was cooking a new recipe (Pioneer Woman's Turkey Tetrazzini) and had W in the kitchen watching me cook.  I was chopping olives and he looked interested so I gave him a slice, thinking he'd probably spit it out.  Nope - he loved it and had his hand out for another.  And another.  In fact, I figured he was probably hungry with dinnertime approaching, so I gave him a little cube of turkey.  Which he took and ate, but when offered a second cube, he rejected it and pointed to the pile of sliced olives.  So cute.  Of course olives have fat & sodium and so we obviously aren't going to make this a habit.  A little later, since dinner prep was taking longer than I thought and both boys were now in their chairs watching me & getting whiny, I decided to give them some canned spinach to see what they thought of that.  (I personally despise canned/frozen/cooked spinach by itself - will only eat it raw, like in salads & sandwiches or cooked in a sauce).  They gave it a try and neither of them seemed to mind it.  It was definitely a new texture experience for them. And then when we all sat down to have dinner together, they tried mushrooms for the first time, as this was a prominent ingredient in the recipe.  And once again - no problems there!

After dinner, W showed off his skills - throwing the ball and kicking it.  We actually said, "Throw the ball to Daddy!" and he did that.  Sometimes the ball would fall off his hands behind him and he'd be momentarily confused, but not deterred.  So cute.

G, meanwhile, somehow got a big red bump on the side of his head.  With all of the wrestling, tackling, climbing, falling, nose-diving that these two participate in throughout the day, this isn't shocking.  Boys will be boys?  Although I'm sure if we had girls we'd likely have the same sort of thing going on.  Ultimately, I loooove how active they are.  The entertainment component is reason enough!  They make me laugh daily.  

daily update

I'm guessing that between two toddlers I'll have new things report daily.  That's the case again today, at least.  W has learned how to kick the ball.  He walks/kicks the ball around the room and looks fascinated at how he can move it.  He also fell in love with my water bottle that I take to work.  I left it out within his reach on the couch when I came home from work last night and he grabbed it.  And he claimed ownership of it all evening (G tried a few times to take it, but was completely rebuffed).  On top of that, Grandma asked him at one point, "Is that your water bottle?" and he looked at her confused, like "This isn't a BOTTLE!".  Such a smart boy - he knows his bottle!

Which brings me to the conundrum of bottles.  How to help the boys say goodbye to them, at what pace?  Jerry says they were able to drink 3 of the 6 ounces of morning milk from the cup before they "demanded" a bottle yesterday.  (It was a morning that they weren't awake yet before I left for work, so I didn't get to participate in this).  I'm not sure what that looks like, especially if the bottles are out of sight.  Maybe an all-out refusal to drink what was left in their cups?  If so, maybe instead of giving the bottle option, we need to just take the cups away and when they want milk again, give them the cups.  But I'd think Jerry probably already thought of that, did that, and they refused the cups multiple times and he knew they needed milk.  Well, we'll see.  I guess they do typically drink milk from cups during their mid-day milk break from Grandma.  The evening bottle is supposed to be the last to go, so I'm still giving bottles.  Now, not that I can't have a similar experience with cups, but last night was precious: I snuggled with both boys in the rocking chair on my lap at the same time in the darkness of their room while they drank their bedtime bottles.  Such a sweet time.  Jerry even ran to get the camera, but it wasn't charged, so he missed documenting the moment.  Instead, I tried to be really mindful of what it felt like, smelled like, sounded like, looked like - to create a real memory of the moment.  That's a subject I'd like to expand on in a future post, actually: the way the boys' first year is such a blur in my memory.  I feel sad about not being able to exactly remember how they felt as babies.  But, I do have lots of video and watching it now & then helps with that.

little snippets

W likes to stick his pointer finger out and put it into G's mouth, daring/teasing him to bite it.  Yesterday while I was at work, G actually did.  No lasting damage, but apparently W was very unhappy with this.

G likes to say, "Nyah! Nyah!" which usually seems to mean, "I want that!"  W just now started saying it too, and it seems like an illustration of one twin learning how to talk from the other twin who doesn't have good pronounciation.  Part of why twins are usually slower with learning to talk.  Oh well - whatchya gonna do?

Bathtub time last night.  G wants to drink bathwater which is not a good thing, so I say "no" - constantly, it seems.  He seems obsessed with it, but may also be obsessed with experimenting to see what my reaction is to his action.  Problem with doing this during the bath is that it's difficult/impossible(?) to redirect him to another activity.

Right now G really likes our story time.  He loves to bring me books when I'm sitting on the floor.  He comes over with the book and backs himself into my lap to sit down and rests his head on my chest while I read.  The problem is that while we're doing that, W also wants my attention - but usually not with the same activity and so I feel guilty.  Lots of feeling guilty about dividing my attention between the two of them.  Have to stop feeling that way, since I'm sure they're fine.

We brushed teeth before bed using a regular type toothbrush, but toddler sized, plus toddler tooth"paste" for the first time last night.  It went over really well.  Jerry had W and I had G, and we did it in front of the mirror in the bathroom with no protests at all.

G is slimming down incredibly.  It's amazing to see it, really.  They still seem to have way too big of an appetite for food than what I think is "normal" based on what I read online.  And that bothers me.  It makes me wonder if the majority of experts are wrong, that toddlers aren't going to overeat healthy nutritious food.  G (and W too) get nothing but vegetables, meat/fish/eggs, pasta/rice/toast/dry unsweetened cereal, and unsweetened fruits. Except they do get little wagonwheel "crunchies" that they like to teethe on and crunch.  But these are even not calorie-dense.  3 of them are 25 calories and they very rarely will eat more than 2 - usually are satisfied with 1.  Zero juice, ever.  Zero sweets, cookies, cakes, etc.  We've even taken cheese out of their diet and they get a max of 16 ounces of whole milk daily.  Still, they generally want to eat lots more than what is typically recommended for toddlers.  And they haven't yet had one of those days that the pediatrician warned us to expect where they'll maybe eat a cracker or a piece of toast throughout the day and that's it.  Maybe we've been blessed with boys who have a wide range of nutritious "likes" (they even inhale unsweetened canned beets!) and healthy appetites.  Or - and this of course is what I worry about all the time - they've inherited their parents' desire for food for reasons other than hunger.

G has joined W in the desire for me to play "Muuuuuusic!" and then dance.  So now I've got 50 pounds of toddler in my arms while I dance around the living room with them.  Thankfully they usually seem to be satisfied with 1 or 2 songs of this.  Thank you to short attention spans!

Curious about heights. They rarely stand still, much less stand still right next to each other, but it really seems like W may be actually taller than G.  If so, I have no idea if it's that W has been growing extra-fast lately or that G hasn't been, or a mix of some of that?  Basically, hoping that G hasn't stalled out on growing and it's just that W had a growth spurt.

Overall, a wonderful weekend

Friday night was icy & so we didn't go out for our traditional "Friday Fish Fry" with Grandma & Grandpa.  Instead we stayed home and had an uneventful evening.  The boys played well and had a good time with us.

Saturday morning I got started on all the house stuff that I put off during the week.  Ended up doing 4 loads of laundry & I scrubbed down the kitchen - it needed it!  Then it was off to a jewelry "party" at our friend Sherie's house here in Waukesha.  Jan came with me & niece Sarah got dropped off by her mom and we actually had a pretty good time.  You know at these parties you generally feel like you need to buy something - so I did buy a necklace.  I'm actually kinda excited about it, because it's a locket-style and mine will have the word "blessed" and 4 charms: a "W", a "G", and Jerry's birthstone & my birthstone.

When we got home, Joel & Grady were at the house with Jerry and the boys having fun.  They love chasing Grady around and jumping on Uncle Joel.

This morning we finally got to church after not being there for quite a few weeks.  It's so hard to concentrate on anything going on during the service, because the boys just have a really hard time staying still & quiet for longer than 15 minutes.  I think it's just part of being a 14 month old.  But it was still really good to be there - and we got to sit with Lisa, Jason, and Ethan so that was fun.  I love getting the chance to spend time with little E.

The boys fell asleep in the car on the way home and so I thought it would be easy to change their clothes & diapers, feed them an early lunch, and put them down for a nap.  Nope!  I don't know if they were overtired or just kinda wound up from the church experience, but they really struggled to go down.  Finally G did, but W was still awake when I left them with Jerry to go run errands.  Jerry smoked a turkey in his Traeger smoker and it was ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS.  I've never ever ever had such moist and flavorful turkey.  Even the breast, which in my experience typically ends up dry, was juicy.  YUMMO.  So Jack & Jan, Joel & Grady came over and we had dinner together.  One of the things I bought today was a plastic ball that's probably a bit smaller than a kickball.  I was thinking the boys might be at the point where they'd enjoy it.  And they do!  We were sitting in a triangle on the floor before dinner: Joel & G, Grady, and me & W, rolling the ball back and forth.  It was a good preview for the huge amount of fun we'll have in the future when the boys are actually capable of rolling the ball by themselves. :-)


I finished up my laundry and put it away before getting out the laptop to write up this post.  It feels good to start the week with everything clean and ready to go.  It doesn't last long!

Molars & Canines

So I came home from work yesterday and was greeted with the news that lo and behold, G has his first molar!  And it's obviously been there for awhile - it's his bottom right one.  I wasn't looking for molars yet, because he still doesn't have his bottom 4 front teeth yet - just his bottom 2.  So, just like with W where I wasn't looking for his molars because I thought the canines came in first, I missed the big appearance.  Oh well.  So far I only see the one molar, but apparently all 4 usually come in at about the same time.  Hopefully there's nothing wrong with the front incisors that haven't poked through yet.

W continues to be an early teether, with his top canines coming in just after Christmas as a 14 month old.
Not much other news, except that they were in giggly happy moods this morning when they woke up and I got to enjoy them for a few minutes before I had to head to work.  Excited that there's a whole weekend ahead of us!  Hopefully we'll get a chance to introduce them to snow for the first time, since there's plenty on the ground & the temps could reach 40 both days.  I'll try to get pictures if so - and then try to post them here!

Bathtime = Happytime

So as of last night, it seems that suddenly W overcame his extreme fear of the bathtub.  I'd planned to do baths last night, given the fact that their last tub adventure was last Wednesday and they were due!  But I'd been dreading dealing with poor W's tears and refusal to sit in the tub.  Well, I did my usual, "Are we ready for the BATH?" and both of them started their giggling & heading to the bathroom.  (For some reason, W has been reacting with excitement about the prospect of a bath and yet still refusing to participate once it came time to go ahead with it, so this reaction last night wasn't anything different).  I planned to get G into the tub and wash him up while allowing W to play in the bathroom - so I babyproofed the room to allow for this.  But shockingly, W was watching G in the tub and looked for me to get him undressed so he could get in too.  So I went with it, and he LOVED it.  He did big BIG splashes and when Grandpa came in mid-bath to see what all the laughter was about, he ended up getting wet all the way from his perch on the toilet.  G followed W's lead with the splashing and my biggest problem ended up being removal of them from the tub!  This was such a fun experience that I briefly thought about asking Grandpa to go get the videocamera so I could document it, but decided to do it another time.  I'll hopefully be able to follow up with a fun bathtime video in a future post.

First Post (What a creative title!)

So I'm completely new to blogging and will attempt to keep my expectations of myself low.  Example: I have intentions to eventually password-protect this blog for the boys' privacy.  But, I have to actually look into how to do that and so I've decided to be OK with beginning before I've figured it out.

This is generally just a site that will allow me to easily keep a diary of sorts so that I can look back and remember things the boys have been up to, like their milestones and other fun things.  And it also lets me share these things with my Minnesota family & friends who don't get to see these things in person very often. So rather than emailing photos & messages about things, they'll be able to go to this website and see for themselves.

That's the idea anyway.  We'll see how things go!